Pueblo de Los Angeles
by The Threat
Summary: Picking up where I left off with 'Fowl Manor', our heroes will need to meet up with with a local hero to stop their enemy.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: not one character used here is mine.

* * *

The three of us entered the ship. It looked much the same as before. All of the seats were still there, the walls were still in one piece, and even the door could shut itself behind us without any problem. There was nothing that showed us we crashed, as we had been told. What was different was the cockpit. I remember when I first saw it, there was a robot, bolted there. That robot was gone. In its place was a different kind of robot. One with a human face, with one complete arm, while its left arm was missing a hand. But instead of a hand, it seemed to have a tube attached to it, which was connected to the ship's controls. It didn't have any legs, but it had some kind of rotating mechanism, which meant that the robot could turn to look at us if it wanted to. The only reason I have kept referring to him as "it" by now, was because it took me a while to notice it wasn't a robot I was looking at, but a friend of mine.  
"Murphy?" my female companion, who knew him best, cried, "What have they done to you?"  
"What I asked them to, Saya." Murphy replied, "I knew that with my incomplete body, I'd only be keeping you back. But now that I'm connected to the ship, I can be of more use to you."  
"Don't you feel vulnerable at all?" Saya asked him.  
My other companion laughed: "Since when do you care about other people?"  
Saya turned her head to him: "I don't. I just don't understand why he would want to put himself in this position."  
Merlin kept smiling: "Why can't you just admit you do care?"  
Saya drew her sword out: "Do you want to live to become thirty?"  
It was funny to see those two argue with each other. Merlin, being of roughly my age, was always smiling, even at the more dangerous times, which always clashed with Saya, who looked like she was younger than me, but acts like she's so much older.  
"This ship has lasers." Murphy answered Saya's question, "And should anyone somehow find their way in, I always have this."  
Murphy raised his fist, which showed us he was wearing that belt-gun we picked up in an earlier world. This seemed to calm Saya down, as she put her sword back. This time, I could see where she hid it. She was carrying a tube on her shoulder. The same type that most artists use to carry around their artworks. Clever, I thought to myself.  
"Also, you may be interested in these." Murphy said, as he pointed at something at the bottom of the windshield.  
The three of us came closer to look. There were three things that looked like tubes, along with three pairs of dark goggles.  
"If you put these in your ears, and those on your heads, you can be my eyes and ears on every world we visit." Murphy explained.  
Saya looked at them. She put one small cylinder in her ear, and the goggles on her eyes.  
"I can't see anything with this." she complained.  
"You can always just wear them around your neck." Murphy suggested, "The effect should be the same."  
As suggested, Saya pulled the goggles down, so to wear them around her neck. Merlin and I followed her example. Or at least, Merlin wore the goggles around his neck. I put them on my eyes, just to see. I didn't see anything unusual, until I felt some kind of dial around one goggle. I turned it, and suddenly everything looked green. I remember seeing this before. It's called night-vision. I turned the dial again, and suddenly, where Merlin once stood, stood now something red, while everything else was blue. This was heat-vision, which showed me all the warm spots. It looked neat, until I saw that where Saya stood, there was something blue. I already knew she was different from us in many ways, but suddenly knowing she doesn't have a body-heat, somehow terrified me more than anything else. I switched off the heat-vision, and took off the goggles, only to see Saya's less than pleased face.  
"You better take a seat now." Murphy suggested.  
"Where are we going?" Merlin asked.  
"Your timer..." Murphy pointed at me, "... has all of its last locations in its memory banks. Its last location was the world where you found Mondas."  
"Before that, it was Narnia." Merlin said, then pointed at me, "Where we found you."  
"Then one of the worlds it visited before Narnia, must be your home." Murphy continued.  
If only that were true. I don't know what that world was, but it wasn't home. But even if it was, we'd only find one ship, filled with dead bodies. No way did I want to go back there. Shivering, I shook my head wildly.  
"What no?" Murphy asked.  
"Looks like he's afraid to go back to any of those worlds." Saya said.  
"Very well. We won't go there." Murphy agreed, "I'll just open a portal, and see where we end up."

As soon as Murphy said that, I ran to take a seat. I sat down and fastened my seatbelt. Soon enough, Saya and Merlin did the same thing. When all three of us were ready, Murphy started up the ship. Slowly, we started hovering over the ground. Through the windshield, we could see the friends we made in this world, waving at us. Well, many of them did, while others simply nodded. The ship flew up a little higher, until we couldn't see people, trees or buildings anymore.  
"Hold tight for high speed." Murphy spoke, after which we felt ourselves being thrust forward, into the sky.  
"Why are you flying so high?" Merlin asked.  
"I don't want to risk us hitting anything when we enter a different world." Murphy explained.  
"But what if we crash again?" Merlin further questioned.  
"Last time, we were in an unstable wormhole." Murphy explained, "It won't happen again."  
At the same time as he said that, only a black sky with white dots could be seen through the windshield. This told me we were in space. Whatever Murphy did this time, it caused a portal to open in front of us. With that thing there, he flew closer to it. Soon enough, we were in that weird space again. Where we were everywhere and nowhere at the same time, where everything had all the colors we can think of, and yet bear no colors at all. Still, unlike earlier times I was in this, I was actually sitting in a comfortable chair, and the artificial gravity of the ship made the entire trip more pleasant than before. And this time, when we arrived in a new world, I was surprised to see how short our trip was this time.  
"So... where are we now?" Merlin asked.  
"I'm not picking up any radio signal from the planet." Murphy answered.  
"Radio signal?" Merlin didn't know what that was.  
"Remember those things we had to put into our ears?" Saya explained to him.  
"Yes." Merlin replied, "They are like those earpieces we used before, aren't they? So we can talk to Murphy without him actually being near us?"  
"Indeed." Saya replied, "But in order for it to do that, it needs to send out a signal for Murphy to receive."  
"I see." Merlin replied.  
"Since you're not familiar with our technologies, I am guessing you don't have many advanced machines in your world." Murphy spoke.  
"Not like this, no." Merlin replied.  
"So if a planet has the technology to send out signals, it means an advanced civilization is living there." Murphy further explained.  
"But you're not receiving anything?" Merlin asked.  
"So either they're not advanced, or humans don't exist here." Murphy explained.  
"A world where humans don't exist." I couldn't be sure, but it almost looked like Saya was smiling.  
"Wait, I am picking something up." Murphy sounded startled.  
After a few seconds, he said: "It's gone."  
"What does that mean?" Merlin asked.  
"It means we have a place to check out." Murphy replied.


	2. Chapter 2

Murphy brought the ship down to where the signal came from. What I saw was what looked like a small town, where there were only a few houses. Two of these houses stood out, as they were both made of the same type of white rock. One of them had windows, with only one of them open. Its roof seemed to be made of palm-leaves, or at least some kind of plant. This must be a hotel of some kind. Near its door sat a man, wearing ragged clothes, his face covered in dirt, possibly a beggar. The other building had a large gate, which was guarded by two men in blue shirts, wearing funny, perfectly circular hats, and carrying guns, that looked more like long sticks than the usual rifles. Near it was what looked like a fence, which they used to tie their horses to. The ground was plain sand, not even grass grew there. The people were dressed in what I can only describe as old-fashioned clothes. But then, from the looks of it, these people seemed to be living in a time period some time before the twentieth century.  
"Odd." Merlin said, "Doesn't anyone see us?"  
"Only if I'm not using the cloaking system." Murphy replied.  
This puzzled Merlin: "Why would ship need a cloak?"  
"As Foaly explained it" Murphy replied, "the cloak makes this ship invisible. Even if these people had anything to detect this ship, they won't be able to."  
"Oh! Like an invisibility cloak. Now I see." Merlin spoke.  
"Congrats." Saya whispered, "So where did you pick this signal up?"  
"It came and went." Murphy explained, "I didn't have enough time to triangulate its position. But I could narrow it down to this area."  
Saya took one quick look at the people: "They don't seem the type to even know what electricity is. Let alone be able to send out any sort of signal."  
"So it must be someone from another world?" Merlin asked.  
"My thoughts exactly." Murphy said.  
"Think it's related to Smith's Army?" Saya wondered.  
"Unknown." Murphy replied.  
Merlin loosened his seatbelt as he got up: "Only one way to find out. Ask."  
Saya groaned and rolled her eyes. Of course she wouldn't be a fan of talking to people. But she undid her seatbelt anyway and followed Merlin. Both were already at the door, before Murphy had even landed the ship. I didn't follow them, until I saw Murphy take the ship down next to the hotel, just out of sight for most of the villagers.

I had to take one step outside the ship to know this was a mistake. The sun shone too brightly, I could barely keep my eyes open, and feel my skin melt. Saya seemed to feel almost exactly the same problem, except while I tried to endure the heat, she immediately ran around the hotel, looking for shade. Merlin and I followed her. When we found her at the front of the hotel, we saw her breathing heavily.  
"What's wrong?" Merlin asked her.  
"It..." Saya tried to talk, "... it has been a while since I've felt light as bright as this."  
"I understand." Merlin said, "Albion isn't as warm or as bright as this either."  
So Merlin was from some place called Albion. It made me wonder what this village was called.  
"Well, hello there, strangers." a booming voice sounded.  
All three of us looked at where that came from. A man, dressed in a blue shirt, white pants, and wearing a perfect circular hat came to us. He was wearing a uniform similar to the ones that those guards from before were wearing, but one clear way to tell this one apart from the other two, was because of his overall size. Calling him overweight would be an understatement.  
"Welcome to Los Angeles." he said, "Are you friends of Senior Kyrano?"  
Merlin turned to Saya: "What is he saying?"  
Saya shot him a look: "It's called Spanish."  
"Eh? What are you two talking about?" the man asked.  
It didn't even surprise me anymore that I could understand this man so well, I didn't even notice if he was speaking a different language.  
"Why won't you tell us who you are first?" Saya seemed to challenge him.  
As Merlin turned around, whispered something I couldn't make out, but it somehow caused his eyes to light up, the man introduced himself: "Forgive me. I am Sergeant Dimitrio Lopez Garcia, soldier of the King of Spain, and acting Commandante of..."  
"Soldier of the King?" Merlin spoke, "Are you a knight, then?"  
The man, Garcia, looked puzzled: "Knight? My dear young man, this isn't the middle ages."  
"The what?" Merlin didn't understand.  
"Never mind him." Saya told Garcia, "What do you want with us?"  
"Ah! Well, as acting Commandante of this pueblo, it is my duty to ask every stranger for their name and what brings them here." Garcia explained.  
"Oh, well that's easy." Merlin replied, "My name's Merlin. This is Saya, and..."  
He hesitated as he pointed at me.  
Merlin apologized: "He doesn't speak, so we don't know his name."  
"He's dumb?" Garcia asked.  
I was taken aback at that. I've been called many things, but this wasn't one of them.  
"That's a matter of opinion." Saya answered, "Why did you ask us if we're friends with this... Kyrano?"  
"Oh, I'm sorry." Garcia suddenly forgot all about me, "It's just that you're all funnily dressed."  
Speak for yourself, I thought to myself.  
"And carry around these weird... things. And..."  
"Get to the point, Garcia." Saya got impatient with him.  
"Well, Senior Kyrano is also funnily dressed, and carried around some weird baggage. He left just a few minutes ago, saying he had some friends to take care of. I thought he might have meant you."  
"Ask him which way he went." I heard Murphy tell us.  
"Alright." Merlin replied.  
"Eh?" Garcia looked at Merlin, wide-eyed. He clearly wasn't used to seeing people talk to someone who, as far as Garcia knew, wasn't there.  
"Uh..." Merlin had to do some quick thinking, "Did you see where this Senior Kyrano went?"  
"No." he answered, "Not even any of my lancers have. It's like he just vanished without a trace."  
The sound of a coach riding nearby distracted Garcia. He turned to look, then looked back at us, suddenly with a bright look in his eyes, and a wide smile on his face.  
"Excuse me a moment." he said, "I have a friend to greet."  
He didn't wait for any of us to say anything, he just ran to that coach, leaving us alone.  
"Thought he would never leave us." Saya sounded relieved.  
"What do you think?" Merlin asked, "Could this Kyrano be who we're looking for?"  
Saya shrugged: "He could be just a tourist passing through here."  
"But he disappeared at roughly the same time when I picked up the signal." Murphy told us, "Quite a coincidence."  
"Do you know anyone named Kyrano?" Saya asked him.  
"No." was Murphy's short answer.  
"So what do we do now?" Merlin wondered.  
"Wait until he returns." Murphy suggested.  
Saya already started back toward the ship. Merlin held her by her shoulders, stopping her.  
"Hey, where are you going?"  
"There's no way I'm waiting for him in this heat." Saya replied.  
Merlin looked at me. I raised my shoulders, as I didn't know how else to respond.  
"Here they are." Garcia's booming voice sounded dangerously close.  
All three of us looked in his direction. He wasn't alone this time. With him were two men. One tall, wearing a brown suit, slicked back hair, and a small mustache. The other was about the same size as me, balding, and yet somehow more childlike than me.  
"This young man is called Merlin." Garcia started introducing us, "The girl is named Sara."  
"Saya." she nearly barked at him.  
"Oh. Forgive me." Garcia said, "And the quiet one, I think the little one would like him."  
He pointed at the short man when he said that, who raised his hand and waved at me.  
"What do you want this time?" Saya asked him.  
"Nothing." Garcia replied, "I just thought, since the little one here is deaf and dumb, maybe he'd like to meet your little friend here."  
I could be mistaken, but the "little one" looked at Garcia, brows raised, as if he heard what he just said. Didn't he just say he was deaf?"  
"What a splendid idea, Garcia." the mustached man spoke, with a voice as loud as Garcia's, but somehow friendlier.  
"It may help to our advantage if we try to be friends with the locals." Merlin whispered to Saya.  
"So I shouldn't return to the ship?" I could hear the frustration in her voice.  
"Gentlemen. And lady." Garcia suddenly stood stiff, as if he suddenly remembered he had manners, "Meet Don Diego de la Vega. And his man-servant Bernardo."  
"You must have had a long journey behind you." the man, Diego, said, "How would you like to come inside the tavern and have a drink?"  
"Excellent idea, Don Diego!" Garcia couldn't be happier.  
"At least you'll be inside, where it's cooler." Merlin told Saya.  
"Best idea anyone's had all day." though she tried not to show it, she sounded more pleased than I've ever heard her.


	3. Chapter 3

Diego guided us inside what I thought was a hotel earlier. Maybe it was, but the bottom floor had many tables and chairs, with a small number of people having a drink. Behind the counter (if it should be called that) stood an old man, who upon seeing Diego immediately raised his voice.  
"Don Diego." he said, "How nice to see you this afternoon."  
I frowned at that. Why does this Diego seem so popular with the people?  
Diego smiled: "Would you mind bringing me and my guests some wine?"  
"I don't drink." Saya snapped at Diego.  
Everyone turned to look at her.  
"Wine, I mean." she quickly added.  
I rolled my eyes, as I had a pretty good idea of what it is that she does drink.  
"And neither does he." she pointed at me.  
My face froze, as I feared her drawing attention to me might make people wonder why I was rolling my eyes.  
"Yes, I thought you two looked too young for that." Diego said.  
"I'm sorry I cannot allow kids in my tavern." the old man said.  
"Surely you mean you cannot allow them without some adult supervision." Diego interjected.  
"Well, I've come of age seven years ago. Is that good enough for you?" Merlin told the old man.  
The old man looked at Merlin. The way he looked at Merlin, with those squinted eyes, and tight jaw, I knew he didn't fully trust Merlin."  
"If it makes you feel better, I'll vouch for him." Diego added.  
"Say yes, so we can finally drink." Garcia almost sounded like he was ordering the old man to do so, but quickly changed his tone when he added: "Please?"  
"Alright, you can stay." he told us.  
"Excellent." Diego replied, then pointed at something, "There's a table where we can sit."  
Diego moved his hand too quickly for me to see it, but I saw him march toward a table. It had only four chairs, but we could always pull up two extra ones.  
"Please sit down." Diego told us.  
Merlin was the first to take a seat, smiling as he did so. Saya kept that angry look on her face, but she sat down anyway, opposite Merlin. I could tell she didn't like having to make friends with the locals. I guess it was easier for her in the last world we were in, since most of the people we met weren't even human. But here, where everybody is human, as far as we could tell, of course she wouldn't feel right about being in this village. I took an extra chair, so I would sit at the head of the table, between Merlin and Saya. Diego sat himself next to Merlin. Garcia wanted to take the seat next to Saya, but one look from Saya made him change his mind. Like me, he took an extra chair, so he would sit at the other end of the table, closer to Diego, who then pulled Bernardo's sleeve, pretended to drink from an invisible glass, then pointed at the counter. Bernardo nodded, and started toward the counter.  
"So... Merlin." Diego started, "No relation, I assume?"  
Merlin sat up straight when he heard that: "Relation?"  
"Well, you know." Diego explained, "From the legends."  
Merlin, looked at us, wide-eyed. He didn't know what Diego was talking about.  
"It's just a name." Saya told Diego, "Think nothing of it."  
"Oh." Diego smiled widely, "Well in that case, I won't inquire any further."  
"So if you're not friends with Senior Kyrano," Garcia brought up, "why are you in Los Angeles."  
Even if I could talk, I wouldn't know how to explain to these people that we're from different worlds, and that we're looking for people who are as well. Looking at Merlin, his face told me he felt the same way. And Saya... she didn't change her expression at all, but the fact that she didn't try to explain told me enough.  
"Tell them you're travelers, seeking out the strange and unusual." Murphy suggested.  
Merlin repeated after Murphy, to which Garcia said: "Then you have certainly come to the right place."  
Bernardo arrived with our drinks, just when Diego asked: "How do you mean, Sergeant?"  
"Come on, Don Diego." Garcia replied, "Senior Zorro, of course."  
"Zorro?" Merlin sounded very interested in this person.  
"He's an outlaw." Garcia explained, "A man who defends the weak, and help the helpless."  
"He sounds like a great man." Merlin replied, "Where can I find this Zorro?"  
Garcia sighed deeply: "That is just it. Nobody knows. We don't know where he lives, what he looks like behind his mask, or even how he knows when people are in trouble."  
"Oh now, Sergeant, you really shouldn't be saying such things." Diego told him.  
"Why not? It is the truth." he replied.  
"It is." Diego didn't deny that, "But you might make them want to hunt down Zorro. Everyone who tried only returned disappointed."  
Why did Bernardo cover his mouth when Diego said that? Was he trying to hide the fact that he was laughing? What about?  
"Oh, don't worry." Merlin assured Diego, "We'll just wait until he shows himself."  
I heard the door open. I looked in its direction, and saw a man come in. He wore the same suit that Garcia wore, even had the same sort of mustache, and carried that stick-like gun. Garcia turned around to look.  
"Corporal Reyes!" he shouted, "Come on over here."  
"Yes, Sergeant." he said, and marched over to us. Literally. I knew his uniform was military, but I would think even military people would relax every now and then. Especially in a tavern.  
When Reyes had arrived, Garcia spoke: "Have you met our new friends here?"  
"Yes, Sergeant." was his reply, which didn't sound much different from when he first said it.  
"I'm not your friend." Saya snarled.  
Garcia nearly fell back at the sound of that.  
"Maybe she's just not as quick as you are to call people friends." Diego suggested.  
Garcia's mouth formed an "O", as if he understood, then he turned back to Reyes: "They came here especially to see Zorro. Can you believe it?"  
"Yes, Sergeant."  
Diego smiled, but Garcia looked worried. It would seem as if this wasn't how Reyes usually acted.  
"Corporal Reyes." Garcia's tone changed to less friendly than before, "You're a baboso."  
"Yes, Sergeant."  
While this seemed to shock Diego, Reyes didn't seem to mind being called names.  
"Alright, Corporal." Garcia seemed to sink down, "Go on, do... whatever it is you came here to do."  
"Yes, Sergeant." Reyes said, before he left us.  
"Man of few words, is he?" Merlin asked, though he sounded like he was joking.  
"Now now, Sergeant, that was hardly fair." Diego said.  
"I know, Don Diego." Garcia agreed, "But..."  
The pause he left made us all curious. Especially Diego, who asked: "What's wrong?"  
"I don't know." Garcia answered, "Some of the lancers have been acting strange lately."  
"How strange?" Diego asked.  
"Usually, when I give them orders, they would complain, or hesitate to follow them, or maybe even ask me why they should do what I order them to, even if they knew they should never question my orders." Garcia said, "But nowadays, it's like one by one, the lancers became obedient servants, never question anything I say, never complain. Even Reyes just now, he didn't show any sarcasm when he said 'yes Sergeant'."  
Merlin and Saya were looking at each other. Whatever they were thinking, the way they looked at each other, told me they were very interested in Garcia's story.  
"When did they start acting that way?" Merlin asked.  
"When?" Garcia needed some time to think about it, "Quite a while, I think. Days. Maybe even weeks."  
"Weeks?" Diego questioned.  
"I didn't think anything of it at the time." Garcia replied, "It is not unusual for lancers to suddenly realize they are soldiers of the king, and that they should never question or complain. But now... I'm worried there's something going on here that I know nothing about."  
"Tell me." Saya brought up, "This wouldn't have started at the same time as when this Kyrano arrived?"  
Garcia laughed nervously, but stopped abruptly: "Now that I think about it, that is exactly when it happened."  
I could see Bernardo pulling on Diego's sleeve. Diego turned to look at Bernardo, who pointed at something. Diego then turned back to us: "You will have to excuse me, I eh... need some fresh air."  
"Well of course, Don Diego." Garcia replied, "By all means."  
Diego got up from the table and walked to the other side of the tavern, Bernardo following him. I had to turn around in my seat to see where they were going. There was a door at the back, which they were heading for.  
"Merlin, Saya, distract the Sergeant." Murphy told us.  
"So, Sergeant." Merlin immediately reacted, "What does a soldier of the king do?"  
Garcia's high-pitched voice told me he gladly answered that question. As he was answering Merlin's question, I followed Diego and Bernardo.


	4. Chapter 4

Why Murphy told me to follow Diego and Bernardo, I'm not sure. Maybe he too noticed something was off about the way these two have been acting. Like how Bernardo reacted to what people were saying, despite him being deaf, and how Diego says he needs air, when he clearly reacted to Bernardo telling him he needed to see him alone. I followed them going out through the back door, where they were in a back alley. So to not draw their attention, I stayed inside, but looked through the door that was ajar, where I could what was so important. I saw Bernardo covering the few hairs he had on his head, then waved his hands over his body, shoulders to feet.  
"Senior Kyrano, yes?" Diego reacted.  
Bernardo then appeared to pick something up that was invisible, and placed it in front of him, took something out of his pocket, which looked like one of those old-fashioned fob-watches, then he held what looked like an invisible stick, placed it on his shoulders, then tapped his head with his right-hand finger.  
"Yes, him arriving at the same time when the lancers started acting strangely can't be a coincidence." Diego replied, "I thought as much too."  
The way this was going, it proved two things to me. One, Bernardo can hear very well. Which raised the question why everyone thinks he can't. Two, although he can't speak, he knows how to tell others what he's thinking.  
What happened next, I wasn't sure. Bernardo made this strange shape with his hands, like he was talking about a vase. Then he pretended to put a bag on his shoulder.  
"Saya?" Diego asked.  
Then he pretended to put on a coat, and tied something around his neck. Was he referring to Merlin's coat and scarf?  
"Merlin?" Diego asked.  
After Bernardo nodded, I knew that I made the right guess. I was beginning to understand him a little.  
Bernardo pointed to the door, then to his head, made this gesture with his hands, like he was talking about something big. Then he pointed to his lips.  
"I agree." Diego replied, "They know more than they're telling us."  
Bernardo raised his shoulders.  
"For now," Diego replied, "we better keep them distracted. I'll talk to Saya and Merlin, see what more they can tell me. You better entertain the quiet one."  
Bernardo smiled at the idea. I would guess he didn't know too many other people who don't talk.  
"I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about." Diego laughed, but Bernardo stopped smiling, looking at Diego with a surprised look on his face.  
"And then tonight, I'll do some more sneaky investigations." Diego added.  
As a reply, Bernardo wagged his finger, and made three "woosh" sounds with his mouth, to which Diego nodded.  
They turned back toward the door, so of course I had to run away from there.

"... is why it is such a great honor to die for my king." Garcia said, just when I returned to the table, "Of course, honor doesn't give us comfortable beds, or even good food, but what you do get is..."  
Saya looked at me when I sat down. Usually, that look on her face scared me, but seeing as Garcia didn't stop talking, I could see why she would have that look on her face.  
"Having fun now, eh?" Diego only just returned to the table himself.  
"Oh good, you're back!" Merlin sounded relieved to see him. Was he also getting bored with Garcia?  
"Why?" Diego laughed, "Was Garcia about to arrest you?"  
Suddenly, it was weird to see him this way. He seemed so serious just seconds ago, and suddenly he acted like nothing was wrong. Before I could give it another thought, somebody tapped me on the shoulder. I turned my head to look. It was Bernardo, who pointed at me, then to his mouth, and shook his head. I could only guess, but with the thought that he was asking me if I don't talk, I shook my head. But when he pointed at me, and made all sorts of gestures with his hands, and then shook his head, I had no idea how to answer.  
"What are you trying to do, little one?" Garcia asked him.  
Bernardo blinked, but didn't turn to look at Garcia. He did what he did before, but I still had no idea how to answer him.  
"I think he's asking you if you know any sign language." Diego told me.  
My mouth formed an "O", then I shook my head.  
Saya shrugged: "It would be useful if we knew what he's thinking sometimes."  
"Useful?" Diego questioned, "Not very lady-like, are you?"  
I could see Saya making her usual angry face again, but Merlin started talking before Diego could see it: "She just likes being efficient, that's all."  
I heard the door open, so I looked in that direction. In my field of vision, I could see Garcia doing the same. What I saw was a man, whose skin was of a light shade of brown (much like everybody else I had seen in this town, which told me he wasn't really a stranger), had absolutely no hair on his head, and wore what looked like a long red dress. Something you'd see a monk wear, if he were from China. But he wasn't alone. With him was a man, who was twice the size of the man in the red dress. He was dressed in the same sort of shirt and pants that most men wear in this village. But he had a gray scarf wrapped around his head, which was covered by one ridiculously large hat (a sombrero, if I'm not mistaken), and large brown gloves.  
"Senior Kyrano!" Garcia shouted at him, after which he rose from his seat, "Welcome back."  
"Sergeant Garcia." the man in the red dress replied.  
So this is this Kyrano that Garcia talked about, I thought to myself.  
Merlin looked at Saya, used his head to point at Kyrano, to which Saya nodded, and both rose up as well.  
"What are you up to?" Diego stopped Merlin from going anywhere, but couldn't stop Saya, who followed Garcia.  
Not wanting to miss out on what was going to happen, I got up from my seat as well. Bernardo spread his arms to stop me, but I ran in the opposite direction.

Once I got closer to Garcia, I could hear him ask: "Who is your friend?"  
"Oh, he's just my personal bodyguard." Kyrano answered, "Who is this fine young lady?"  
Saya opened her mouth to reply, but Garcia's loud voice spoke before she could: "This? She's named Sa..."  
Garcia didn't dare to continue. Maybe because he got her name wrong once before, he thought he shouldn't try it again.  
"She's been very interested in you." he said instead.  
This was the first time I saw Saya frown the way she did when Garcia said that.  
"Is she now?" this seemed to interest Kyrano, "I must say, you intrigue me as well."  
He placed his hands together and bowed to her. Given the sneer on Saya's face, I could tell that she wasn't impressed by this. But that wasn't what bothered me. Kyrano wore black gloves. I can't say I was ever an expert on clothes, but I didn't think gloves like those were ever made around this era.  
"I have spend a few years in China, where people look as beautiful as you." Kyrano told her, "Are you, by chance from China too?"  
Saya didn't answer, but not because she wasn't interested in talking to Kyrano. She was frowning, like there was something else going on, but she couldn't tell what.  
"Well, why don't you answer him?" Garcia asked.  
"It must be a slight cultural difference." Kyrano explained to Garcia, "Nothing you should worry about."  
Saya turned around, just when Merlin arrived.  
"You two gotten aquainted yet?" he asked.  
I could see Saya whisper something to Merlin's ear, who then looked worried. Both walked toward the far corner of the tavern, and I followed them.  
"So, what's wrong, Saya?" Merlin asked.  
"It's the heat." she replied.  
"What about it?" Merlin asked.  
"It heats up the air around here." she explained, "I even changes how people smell."  
"Is that important?" Merlin asked.  
"If Kyrano isn't from this world, and is responsible for what is happening to these soldiers, I should be able to smell it." Saya answered, "But I can't. Everything smells like it's burning."  
"You have more problems than that." Murphy told us.  
"Like what?" Saya asked him.  
"I could see the conversation Diego had with Bernardo earlier." Murphy replied, "Bernardo isn't deaf, he's pretending to be."  
"Why would he do that?"  
Saya looked behind Merlin when she answered: "So people would think they can speak without being overheard."  
Both Merlin and I turned to see what Saya was looking at. Bernardo was sitting at a nearby window, seemingly enjoying the view.  
"So what?" Merlin brought up, "As long as we don't speak Spanish, I don't think he'll get any wiser from us."  
"Maybe." Murphy said, "But since he's standing there, it means that he and de la Vega are suspicious of us."  
"So we have two parties to worry about." Saya said.  
"Three, if you count Garcia." Merlin said.  
Speaking of Garcia, he mentioned a man named Zorro, who always shows up when there's trouble. From what our situation looked like, I found myself wishing that Zorro could help us.  
"No other choice." Murphy spoked, "Saya, you keep an eye on Kyrano."  
"Why?" she asked.  
"He seems to like you." Murphy explained.  
"Not a mutual feeling." Saya growled.  
"Like it or not, you have to pretend that you do."  
"What do we do?" Merlin asked Murphy.  
"Our silent friend can take up the lessons which Bernardo offered." Murphy explained, "So he can keep an eye on Diego."  
Merlin sighed, then looked at me: "I really hate that we can't call you by name."  
"Since he's a mute, why not M?" Saya suggested.  
Merlin looked at me: "What do you think?"  
I raised my shoulders. "M" seemed as good a name as any.  
"As for you, Merlin, you better keep the Sergeant talking." Murphy said.  
Merlin sighed: "I suppose if even Arthur can have a good heart, despite being a twat, why would Garcia be any different."


	5. Chapter 5

I walked over to Bernardo, who immediately pointed at me, then to his mouth, and showed the palms of his hands, as he lifted his shoulders. If I understood him right, he wanted to know what we were talking about. As a reply, I could only point at my mouth and shake my head. He laughed, as he realized I had no way of telling him anything. He placed his hand on my shoulder, and guided me to a table. As he did so, I took a quick look around. I saw Saya, walking up to Kyrano, who mumbled a few words that I couldn't make out at this distance, but I saw him bow down to her. I could see Saya's muscles tense up, but she bowed back. He then raised his hand, guiding her to the stairs. Though I could see the reluctance in her movements, she went up anyway, followed by Kyrano, and this mysterious bodyguard of his. While that was going on, Merlin took a place at the counter, where he ordered a glass of wine. I wondered why he didn't have a drink with Garcia, but then I saw him talking to Diego. Garcia, though he had a loud a voice, it was hard to understand what he was saying. Either that, or I was too focused on Diego, who kept trying to walk away, but Garcia stopped him. I could be mistaken, but he wanted to go up the stairs. Was he trying to follow Saya? Why would he do that? Before I could give it another thought, Bernardo was pulling on my arm. I looked, and saw him sitting down at a smaller table. He wanted me to take the other seat, and so I did. He pressed his finger against my heart. I frowned, as I had no idea what he wanted from me. He shook his head. He pointed at himself, then started drawing something on the table, using his finger only. First, he drew what looked like a straight line, with two loops attached to it. Next, he drew one line, with three more crossing it. Next to that, he drew another straight line, with one loop, and a curved line coming from it. It took me a while to realize he was drawing the letters "B", "E" and "R". He was writing his own name. So he wanted to know mine. I couldn't remember mine, but with the name Saya gave me before, I knew what to draw. I drew the letter "M" on the table. Bernardo spun his hand, as if to ask what else, but I shrugged, telling him this was all. He frowned, pointed at me, then drew an "M" in the air. As he did so, he made four "woosh" sounds. When he did that, it reminded me of the fact that he did that before. When he spoke to Diego, he made that same noise, except he used three wooshes instead of four. Was he trying to draw a letter in the air before? Which one? And why should it mean anything to Diego? Since I didn't want Bernardo to become suspicious, I just nodded. He then pointed at me, then to his mouth, held his hand up, as if placing it on an invisible child, then placed his hands on hiw bald spots. Was he trying to tell me that I should refer to him as the little bald one? I laughed as that thought came to me.  
"Why do you want to know that?" I heard Kyrano's voice.  
I shifted my head, looking for him.  
"You brought it up before." Saya replied.  
It was then that I realized what was going on. Murphy must have made sure we can hear the conversation going on between Saya and Kyrano. But as I realized that, Bernardo was waving his hands before my eyes. Of course, he wouldn't know what I was hearing. I had to distract him somehow. If I understood his method of sign language well, all I had to do was point at myself, and pretend to drink from a glass. Bernardo nodded, and left the table.  
"Indeed." Kyrano replied, "I even asked you if you're Chinese."  
"Enough about me." Saya answered, "What brought you to China?"  
Kyrano laughed, although it was closer to a cackle than anything else: "You can say that I was left there."  
"Left?" Saya asked.  
"There was an... accident." Kyrano explained, "I was stuck, hard to save. So of course people didn't think they should waste their efforts to save me, they decided to save themselves first."  
Why was he being so vague?  
"So as I was near death, others came along, helped me, nursed me to health." Kyrano continued, "But since my body was too heavily damaged, they thought me how to use my mind."  
"Your mind?" Saya asked.  
Another cackle: "All in good time. Why won't you relax a little?"  
I cringed at the sound of that. He wanted Saya to relax? What exactly was he up to?  
"Why?"  
"Why all the questions?" Kyrano asked her, "I'm not going to bite you?"  
I snorted when I heard that, as I knew it would more likely be the other way around.  
"I know you won't." Saya seemed to agree with me, "But if not bite me, what WILL you do?"  
"Well, it's like this." Kyrano explained, "Ever since my time in China, I find my own people's women disgusting creatures. I can't even look at my own niece without thinking she's an abomination."  
I wasn't sure I liked the way that sounded. Merlin must have thought the same thing, as he ran up the stairs. Once he was up, I couldn't see what he was doing, but I heard him over the radio.  
"Eh... Saya." he said, "Our quiet friend needs you."  
"I'm coming." she sounded more enthused than she usually does when talking about me. I guessed any excuse to not be near Kyrano was good enough.  
I heard some heavy footsteps.  
"Oh, hello there." Merlin said, "How are you?"  
"Why are you interfering?" Kyrano asked.  
"I just told you." Merlin replied, "Now, will you tell your muscle-bound man to let me through?"  
"I will if you leave now." Kyrano said.  
"If you won't tell him, I'll remove him myself." Saya threatened.  
What happened next, I couldn't be sure. A lot of rumbling sounded through my ear. Bernardo, who had returned with drinks, couldn't understand why I had my hand placed on my one ear. But he soon forgot all about that, when he looked upstairs, as did everyone else. All looked worried, and all were saying something like "what's going on up there?". All while I heard something that sounded like Saya's sword being taken out, and a sort of drenching sound, like it cut through something.  
"Don't!" Kyrano shouted.  
"What is that?" Merlin asked.  
This was when everyone decided to run upstairs. Because of that commotion, I couldn't make out what Merlin or Saya were saying. I thought of running upstairs as well, hoping I could find out what was happening up there. But too many people had already gathered at the stairs.  
"Pardon me." Garcia exclaimed, "This is official business now, and I have to uphold the law."  
They let Garcia go through, who was followed by Diego. Bernardo looked at me, then motioned to me to come along. I followed him.

The four of us were in Kyrano's room. What we saw was an empty room. Kyrano, Merlin and Saya were nowhere to be seen. Kyrano's bodyguard was still there, but he was lying on the floor, not moving at all.  
"Where did everyone go?" Garcia asked.  
"I don't know." Diego answered, "They must have gone out the window."  
"I'll take a look." Garcia said, and ran to the room.  
Diego, meanwhile, took a closer look at the dead body. He picked up the body's right hand, which had a green skin, and a strange sort of cut on its palm. I gasped, as I realized I had seen something like this before. One of the people on that base had green skin and cuts like that on his hand. Why would Kyrano have one of those as a bodyguard?  
"Nobody's outside." Garcia said, "What have you got there, Don Diego?"  
"Eh... this must have been a very sick man." he explained, "For his body to have this odd color."  
"Yes... that must be it." Garcia agreed, but then looked at me, "You. You are under arrest."  
I pointed at myself.  
"Sergeant, why?" Diego stood up for me, "He was downstairs when this happened."  
"But it were his friends who committed a crime." Garcia reasoned, "They may have come here to kill Kyrano all along."  
"You don't know that." Diego said, "Maybe they killed this man because they didn't want his disease to spread."  
"I am sorry, Don Diego, but until I have further proof, I have to place him under arrest." Garcia told him.  
"Look at him." Diego said, "Look at that face of his. He's as shocked about this as you and me. Can you really believe he had anything to do with any of this?"  
Garcia sighed: "You're probably right as always, Don Diego."  
Diego then got up again, and spoke to me: "Do you have any idea where your friends are?"  
I shook my head.  
"Would they leave you behind if it suited their purposes?" he further questioned.  
I shook my head even harder than before.  
"So they'll come back for you?"  
I nodded.  
"In that case, it may be best if you remain at my hacienda until then."  
"Great idea, Don Diego." Garcia agreed, "You know what? I'll send some guards along, just in case."  
If I understood this right, they were hoping that if I stayed at Diego's house, they would lure Merlin and Saya to come pick me up, and these guards would arrest them. I laughed, knowing that these men had no idea what they're facing.  
"See?" Diego pointed at me, "Even he likes it."


	6. Chapter 6

I sat in a coach, along with Diego and Bernardo, which rode up to what Diego called his hacienda. We rode through what looked like a desert, with few bushes, and even less animals. Most people would have enjoyed the landscape, and tried to describe inside their heads just how beautiful everything looked. But I had other things to think about. And even though I tried to enjoy the view, our couch wasn't the only thing that was riding through this desert. With us were two men in blue suits, following Garcia's orders to guard us. To guard me. This kept me thinking about my three friends. Where were Saya and Merlin? What happened to them? What happened to Kyrano? And what about Murphy? Didn't he see or hear anything? Why hadn't I heard back from him?  
"You are worried about your friends, aren't you?" Diego asked me.  
As an answer, I sighed.  
"I am sure they are all right." he said, "You need not worry at all."  
Easy for him to say.  
"If they were my friends, I wouldn't worry at all." he further said.  
I shifted my head in his direction, brows raised. How could he say such a thing?  
"Saya looks like a woman who can take care of herself, and Merlin is wise enough to handle any sort of situation." he explained, "So I would know they will be all right, no matter what the situation."  
Why he would say what he did about Saya, I kind of understood, but why did he talk that way about Merlin? He almost sounded like he knew him. Come to think of it, didn't something like this happen before?

We arrived at the hacienda before I could think more about what Diego told me. As he and I got out of the coach, a man with long hair and white rags approached us. Diego told him to take care of the coach, then signaled Bernardo to go get something to drink. As Bernardo got inside, Diego turned to the two guards.  
"Do you two know what you're supposed to do?"  
"Of course we do." one of them replied, "We're supposed to guard you, in case something happens."  
"The Sergeant was surprisingly specific in his orders." the other replied.  
"Maybe he's just getting wiser." Diego explained.  
Both men laughed.  
"I'll tell him this is your reaction." Diego added, to which the two men abruptly stopped laughing.  
Diego laughed himself, as he opened the door for me to enter.

We didn't enter the house yet. When I walked through the door, we were on a courtyard, where I saw not only a small table with two chairs, but there was also a flight of stairs, leading to an upper floor. So if somebody wanted to go to an upstairs room, they had to go up? What if it were raining when that happened? Who designed this house, I could hear myself wonder.  
"This way to the living room." Diego pointed to me, and I followed his direction.  
I walked toward another door, through which I entered. Inside, there was a large room. It had one long table, with several chairs, a number of cupboards, showing off a few artworks. The way this man spends his money, it surprised me to hear he's still rich. As soon as I noticed Bernardo, standing at the table, he waved at me. When he lowered his hands again, only then did I see the tray with a wine bottle and two glasses.  
"Drink?" he asked, "It should calm your nerves."  
I looked at him again, frowning.  
"We're not at the tavern." Diego assured me, "This house has different rules."  
I shrugged, and sat myself where the bottle was.  
"It's getting dark already?" Diego said, "I'd better get ready for bed."  
I saw him motioning toward Bernardo to follow him. Does he need him to get ready for bed? Either he was that lazy, or there was something else going on. In either case, they both went out the door. Through the window, I saw them heading toward that flight of stairs. So his bedroom can only be reached by going outside? Just how topsy-turvy is this world, I kept wondering.

With him going up to his room, I tried to think of something to do. Then I remembered, I still had those goggles around my neck. Since there was nothing else to do, I decided to put them on, and to try some of its functions. As before, its first setting was night-vision, but all it showed me was everything in green, so I switched to heat-vision. It showed me that Saya wasn't exaggerating when she said the air smelled like it was burning. It wasn't dangerously warm, but wasn't as blue as the inside of Murphy's ship. But as I looked, I noticed some blue spots around something square-shaped. I took off my goggles, and where there were blue spots before, I found a cupboard. I walked toward it, opened its doors, and found... a few shelves, with more artwork. I put the goggles back on, but the blue spots were still there. I reached out for those spots, and felt a drought. I pushed the wall behind the shelves, and... either to my complete surprise or horror, but I found a secret door. Wanting to know what this was about, I stepped through that door. Where I ended up, was a place that was much cooler than the hacienda, or anywhere else I've been since I entered this world. I sighed of relief, but as my head turned, I saw two red spots, in the upper corner of my eye. I looked up. Would those spots be Diego and Bernardo? I switched the heat-vision to night-vision. I found a spiral staircase, which I used to go up. As I got higher, I could hear Diego's voice.  
"... that, because the truth may be too complicated for him to comprehend."  
A pause followed, probably from Bernardo replying.  
"I don't know." Diego said, "But I'm sure it has something to do with why the lancers have been behaving so strangely."  
As I reached the top of the stairs, I could only just see Bernardo pretending to hold a gun to his shoulder, than hold up his thumb.  
"Because they at least had a sense of humor, and feared the Sergeant." Diego answered, "Or at least as much as anyone should."  
Bernardo held his hand to his mouth, to stop himself from laughing.  
Somewhere beside the two, there was a light, which somehow made it unclear what Diego was doing. I switched off the night-vision. What I saw then, was Diego, wearing a black suit, and putting a sword to his belt.  
"In any case, those guards are giving us, and our young friend an alibi." Diego further explained, "So Zorro, can now move freely."  
Zorro? As soon as I wondered how he could be connected to any of this, I saw Diego wrap something around his head, while Bernardo put a cape on Diego's shoulders. Could it be...?  
"M, move away from there."  
I could hear Murphy talk to me.  
"No time to explain, just go."  
As fast as I could, as quietly as I could, I ran down again. I returned to that door I found, stepped through it, but only kept it ajar, so I could still see what was going to happen. And as I thought, Diego was running down the stairs, dressed entirely in black, even putting on a black hat, but without Bernardo this time.  
"Follow him." Murphy told me, "If there's a secret exit, I'll be waiting for you there."

I did exactly that. I followed Diego into an underground cavern, that was lit only by this one lantern he carried. Somewhere at the far end of the cavern, there was a dark horse, which he saddled up as fast as he could. So busy was he with that, he didn't even notice me. Once his horse was saddled, he ran to the far end, where he lowered a bar, ran back to the horse, mounted it, and rode outside.


	7. Chapter 7

Having been shown a way out of this cavern, I exited. To my surprise, it was already dark. I daren't call it night, because nighttime in this world was... weird. The sky was a dark blue, there were few clouds and yet no stars could be seen, the moon had no craters, and shone so brightly it looked more like a mini-sun. So distracted by the darkness was I, I didn't notice there was anything in front of me. I felt hitting something, but when I looked, there was nothing to see.  
"Sorry, I should have warned you before I landed." Murphy spoke to me, which indicated to me that I hit our invisible ship. I pressed my hands against it, feeling for an entrance. When I finally found it, I stepped inside, relieved to see Murphy again. The door shut behind me after I entered.  
"I apologize for not talking to you before." he apologized, "I was chasing Kyrano to his lair. Good job on finding out Diego's secret."  
Through the wind-shield I could see us taking off, and chasing after Diego. Although, if I was right, calling him Zorro would be more accurate. In any case, I ran to the wind-shield, where I could have a better view of what Zorro was doing.

Riding through the desert, under the cover of the kind-of dark sky, Zorro arrived at that building, which must be some kind of army headquarters. I wondered how he was going to get past those two guards, but then I saw he didn't need to get past them, so much as around them. He climbed over a wall, ended up on some kind of straw roof, from which he ran over to what looked like the living quarters. From that roof, he climbed onto a balcony, where he walked past a few doors, until he reached one specific door. He entered the room behind that door. Knowing that I couldn't see anything from where I stood, I used my goggles' heat-vision. This way, I saw how Zorro pestered what looked like a cold spot. I wondered why he would do that, until the cold spot started moving, and seemed to be human-shaped to me. I couldn't hear what was being said, but the fact that Zorro cocked his head a number of times told me that he too was confused about what was going on. Zorro didn't move an inch, but the human-shaped cold spot walked into his sword, which caused Zorro to stop moving, until the cold spot stepped away. As soon as that happened, I heard several more doors opening. I immediately switched to night-vision, and saw several of these soldiers leaving their rooms. Zorro did too, shifting his head, looking for a way out.  
"No choice." Murphy said, "We have to let him in."  
Judging from Zorro's look on his face, I could only assume Murphy uncloaked the ship. As Murphy turned it around, the door got opened. Immediately, I ran to the door, motioning to Zorro to hop aboard. He still looked puzzled, but he jumped on board anyway, so he knew he didn't have much of a choice.  
"Good evening, Don Diego de la Vega." Murphy said as he closed the door and flew up into the sky.  
"Who are you people?" Zorro asked, "What is this? And why did you call me de la Vega?"  
"Don't worry." Murphy assured him, "We're on your side."  
I switched off the night-vision, just as I saw the ship flying up.  
"What are you, exactly?" Zorro asked, "How can this machine fly? Are you responsible for what's happening to the soldiers?"  
"No." Murphy replied, "But I know who is."  
"Diego is with you?" Merlin asked.  
"Yes, he is." Murphy replied.  
"Who is?" Zorro asked.  
I placed my hand to my ear, and my other hand on Zorro's shoulder. He looked at me, wondering what it was that I was doing exactly.  
"What is he doing there?" Saya asked.  
"I'll explain later." Murphy replied, "Where are you two?"  
"Who are you talking to?" Zorro asked.  
"We're still at the hotel." Merlin replied, "Sorry we didn't tell you anything. We had to keep quiet, until everyone left the room."  
"Next time, a closet would be a better place to hide." Saya spoke.  
"Where were you two this whole time?" Murphy questioned.  
"We found a secret place, where Kyrano hid his radio." Saya answered.  
"So he was the one sending or receiving the signal I picked up." Murphy replied.  
"Signal? What signal?" Zorro got more confused by the second.  
"Question is, who was he sending it to?" Merlin asked.  
"I can answer that." Murphy replied, "But I think Diego... sorry, Zorro has a few more questions of his own."  
"Diego is this Zorro?" there's no way to describe just how excited Merlin sounded.  
"M, you better lend him your ear-piece." Murphy told him.  
I nodded, then took my ear-piece out of my ear and gave it to Zorro. He looked at it, not knowing what to do with it. I stuck my thumb and index finger in my ear, telling him where he was supposed to put that. He brought the ear-piece closer to his ear, shocked to hear a voice.  
"What... what kind of sorcery is this?" Zorro asked, "Is it yours, Merlin?"

A lot of back and forth went on between Zorro, Saya and Merlin, but since I could only hear Zorro's side, I had no real idea of what was being said. I could only guess that they were trying to explain to him how this ear-piece worked, where we are from, and what we were doing in his world. Something they were still busy doing, even when Murphy had flown by the hotel, flew close to their window, letting them get inside, and then fly off again.  
Once Zorro knew all he needed to know, he had, as he put it: "Just one more question: can you finally explain to me what is wrong with the soldiers?"  
"I'm guessing they're already brainwashed by Smith's Army." Merlin replied.  
"Does this brainwashing also make them impervious to pain?" Zorro asked.  
Saya and Merlin looked at each other. Clearly, this was new to them.  
"I saw Corporal Reyes walk into my blade, and just walk out of it, like nothing happened." Zorro further explained.  
"That's because it wasn't Corporal Reyes." Murphy explained, "It was an Auton copy."  
"A what?" Merlin and Zorro asked in unison.  
"An Auton is a remote-controlled heap of plastic." Murphy explained, "Usually, you'll find a Nestene consciousness controlling them telepathically, but I don't think that is the case here."  
"Then what is controlling them?" Merlin asked.  
"That over there." Murphy pointed at something beyond the wind-shield.  
All four of us looked outside. What we saw was incredible. It looked like one half of a football, with strange spires sticking out, and all sorts of lights, making me wonder how come no one had ever seen this place before. Also, as I looked more carefully, there were these ridges, and odd-looking holes, all in such a way, it looked like I was looking at a bee-hive.  
"What is that?" Merlin asked.  
"It's a Wraith-ship." Murphy replied.  
Wraith? Didn't Tanith mention those before?  
"What's a Wraith?" Zorro asked.  
"The Wraith are a race of people, who feed themselves on people's life-expectancy." Murphy explained, "They live by draining people's lives."  
"And they are the ones controlling these Autons?" Merlin asked.  
"It makes sense why they would." Murphy answered, "They have hive-minds, so together they have enough telepathic powers to control these Autons."  
"But why would they replace people with copies?" Zorro asked.  
"This way nobody notices it when people are disappearing." Merlin explained.  
"That must be the case." Murphy agreed, "Whether they are recruiting people, or feeding on them, disappearing people draw too much attention, and they don't want to be exposed too soon."  
"How does Kyrano fit into all this?" Saya wondered.  
"That, I haven't figured out yet." Murphy admitted.  
"So what are we waiting for?" Merlin asked, "Destroy that ship!"  
"I can't." Murphy said, "This ship's lasers are built to shoot our way through an asteroid field, they're not made to destroy anything of this calibur."  
"What's all this mean?" Zorro asked.  
"It means we have to destroy it from the inside out." Saya opened her tube up and drew her sword.  
"A woman who knows how to handle a sword?" Zorro smiled, "I can learn to respect you."  
Saya merely sneered.


	8. Chapter 8

The ship landed near the Wraith-ship. By near, I meant that it landed behind a hill, where we won't be seen stepping out of an invisible ship. The four of us, Merlin, Saya, Zorro and me, marched up to that ship. As we went over, Zorro looked down on the sand.  
"Fresh footprints." he said, "There's been recent activity here."  
"You are right." Murphy said.  
Zorro stood stiff. Both Saya and Merlin looked at him.  
"Sorry." he said, "I'm still getting used to hearing voices."  
"I have followed Kyrano here earlier." Murphy continued uninterrupted, "It's how I found this ship in the first place."  
"Wait." Merlin suddenly realized something, "If these Autons you mentioned can look like anybody, and some of them are inside, as well as the people they're copying, how can we tell the copies apart from the others?"  
"Don't you remember Corporal Reyes?" Zorro laughed, "He didn't know what to say besides "yes sergeant". Others like him might be just as bright."  
"Murphy, what's the temperature inside those ships?" Saya asked.  
"They keep temperatures low." Murphy replied, "Keeps their food fresh."  
"How can you just say that?" Merlin asked him.  
"I only tried to explain the logic behind them." Murphy answered.  
"If it's cool, the air won't smell like it's burning, so I can tell the smells apart." Saya said.  
"Sounds good." Zorro smiled.

The four of us walked around the ship, looking for an entrance. The best we could find was one hole. But the closer we got, the more it looked like a cut. And I don't mean it looked like someone cut through metal, it looked like the ship had some kind of skin, which this was cut through.  
"Is that a mouth?" Merlin asked.  
"Since when do ships have mouths?" Saya asked.  
"This isn't normal?" Zorro questioned.  
"The Wraiths' ships are part organic." Murphy explained, "This way, if it gets damaged, they won't have too much work restoring the damage."  
"You mean the ship heals itself?" Zorro asked, "Interesting."  
Heavy footsteps could be heard, coming from that hole. Both Zorro and Saya drew their swords, while Merlin just took a defensive stance. Slowly, two figures appeared from that hole. One of them was tall, had long white hair, a dark suit, a strange-looking mask and green skin. The other looked like one of Garcia's soldiers, except that there was a certain shine to him, like he was made of glass.  
"FLAME UP!" Merlin shouted.  
The soldier burst into flames, as did the green-skinned man's hair. I could see the glass man melt down, without so much as a scream, while Zorro watched, surprise visible in his eyes, even through that mask of his. Saya raised her sword, stabbed it through the green man's heart, and then sliced it through his chest.  
Once that man was down, Murphy spoke: "Careful. Wraith aren't easy to kill. Especially when they've just fed, they'll regenerate damaged tissue."  
Saya looked at the green man, this Wraith as Murphy just said they're called. I looked too. His flaming hair had started to burn the cut Saya made, making it impossible to heal.  
"I don't think he'll be much trouble." Saya said.  
"That's two down." Merlin said, "How many more to go?"  
"Too many." Murphy said, "You have no choice but to destroy the ship."  
"Destroy it?" Zorro asked, "What about the people they have taken?"  
"They're probably already turned." Saya said.  
"You don't know that!" Zorro reasoned.  
"If you like, we'll take a look first." Merlin suggested.  
"There's no time for that." Murphy told us, "As long as Kyrano is still on the loose, there's no telling what he might do."  
"Then how about this?" Zorro said, "You three go and search for other people, while I'll take care of Kyrano."  
"Sounds like a plan." Saya agreed, "Let's go."

The four of us ran inside. The corridors were damp with fog, the floors were covered with what looked like sand, but didn't smell like it. The walls were dark, but had this strange look about them. The closer I looked, the more I noticed they were almost exactly made of the same materials as a bee-hive. So these Wraith are like bees? It was an odd way to think of them that way. I can live with them having just two arms and two legs, instead of the usual six legs that bees have, but what about their wings? Or theis stings? No sooner had I thought of that, and a light flashed by me.  
"Get down!" Saya shouted at me, while pulling me down. From the floor, I could see two more of these big green men, but this time they were carrying what looked like guns. Was that where that light came from? One of those guns? And did I see someone else behind those two men? Was it an Auton? I looked closer. It was in the dark, but it was wearing a long coat. Merlin didn't say anything, but I could see his eyes light up. Somehow, this caused a part of the roof to fall off and fall on those three men.  
"Careful." Murphy said, "The one without a mask is not a drone, you should be able to talk to him."  
"What do you mean?" Zorro asked, "Are you saying there's a hierarchy among these Wraith?"  
Before an answer could come, the debris that fell from the roof moved. Already, Saya ran toward it. The two bigger men had lifted the debris, which made them too preoccupied to bother with Saya. She wrapped her legs around the head of one of them, while she stabbed her sword into the other one's head. While the other was falling down, the first one raised his hands. Before he could do anything, Zorro had already stuck his sword into the man's hand. He couldn't do anything now, so Saya swung her sword and cut the other man ins half.  
"Impressive." a hissing voice said.  
I got up by that point and moved closer. I could see the third man. He too had long white hair and green skin, but his face had strange tattoos, his mouth was more teeth than anything else.  
Zorro held his blade to the little man's throat: "Where is Kyrano?"  
"Why should I tell you?" he asked, "You are planning to kill our asset."  
"Asset?" Merlin asked, "What do you mean?"  
"He can mingle with the people, lure them away, and let us make copies of them." he explained, "Take that away, and we won't have a way of invading other worlds."  
"Oh really?" Zorro didn't believe him, "I thought you had a large army. Why don't you just attack us all and be done with it?"  
"Because they're weak." Saya just realized, "We've destroyed one of their bases. M here witnessed the destruction of another. The Army is getting weaker. You can't afford to just attack entire worlds en masse anymore, can you?"  
The Wraith hissed. As soon as that happened, something underneath him started to move. At first it seemed to flow like a river, but slowly it started to pile up on itself, as if forming a mountain.  
"Kill him!" Murphy commanded, "Kill the Wraith now!"  
Saya didn't hesitate, and stuck her sword in the Wraith's belly, killing him instantly. As he died, the thing that moved, fell down again, like it was never there in the first place.  
"What was that?" Merlin wondered.  
"He was trying to create an Auton." Murphy speculated, "So kill him, and he'll be gone."  
"Kill all the Wraith, and there won't be any more Autons?" Zorro asked, "Even at the pueblo?"  
"Looks that way." Merlin replied.  
Saya didn't say a thing. She just ran off.  
"Saya, where are you going?" Merlin called after her, but since she didn't answer, Merlin followed her, leaving me alone with Zorro.  
"You better go with them." Zorro suggested to me, "Make sure they won't forget about the people trapped in here. I'll go see if I can find Kyrano."  
He ran off. At first I thought of doing as he told me, but then I realized something else. If I did exactly that, I'd be running across more Wraith and Autons. Merlin and Saya seemed to be doing very well on their own, and I'd just be standing in their way. Zorro, on the other hand, knew even less about any of this than any of us. He might actually need my help more than Saya and Merlin did. So I followed after him instead.


	9. Chapter 9

Zorro tried out many doors. Each of these doors were... weird, to say the least. They weren't ordinary doors, they looked more like webs, where Zorro could stick his head through take a look inside, but find nothing useful. It took a long time before he found something that actually looked like a door. He pressed his hand against the door at its seams, but it didn't budge. He had already started to look for another way in, when the door suddenly opened on its own. Taking this as an invitation, he ran inside, and I followed him as fast as I could, because the door had already started closing behind me.  
"Welcome." a familiar voice sounded.  
"Senior Kyrano?" Zorro said.  
"Kyrano is the name I use when I'm among people." was the reply, "In here, I am called the Hood."  
"Really? You could use one to cover that marble of yours." Zorro joked.  
"You must be the legendary Zorro, I heard so much about." Kyrano said.  
"The one and only." I could hear the smile through his voice.  
"Even knowing you are but a legend, I am still surprised you made it this far in here."  
"How did you know I was here?" Zorro asked, though he sounded like he was challenging Kyrano... or the Hood, or whatever he liked to be called.  
"Because I sensed the death of a few Wraiths." he replied, "And lost control over some of the Autons."  
"You sensed all of this?" Zorro was definitely trying to hide his surprise."  
"Does that puzzle you?" the Hood questioned, "Of course it would. This world has not had much contact with the East. And even if they did, they lack the patience to want to understand their wisdoms."  
"What are you talking about?" Zorro asked.  
"As I tried to tell that Japanese girl..." the Hood explained, "I had a little accident, many years ago. I almost cost me my life. But while my body had weakened, my mind became so much stronger."  
"You gained the power to control people's minds?" Zorro couldn't believe it.  
"That is only one of my many abilities." the Hood replied, "An ability that these Wraith share. Unfortunately for them, they have very few thoughts for themselves. They need a stronger mind to control them."  
"And that's where you come in." Zorro understood.  
"Along with their combined telepathic strength, I have control over something called Nestine plastic, which can take every form we want them to. And so, I can gather volunteers for the one that calls himself Smith."  
"Volunteers? You mean these people joined willingly?"  
The Hood snickered: "With some persuasion."  
Wait, if he was doing this FOR Smith, does that mean he's not one of them?  
"And you are all right with taking away people's own will?" Zorro had drawn the same conclusion as I had.  
"As long as he lets me keep my own individual thoughts, yes."  
I could be mistaken, but it looked like Zorro shivered: "Monastario, the Eagle... I thought they were monsters, but you?!"  
"It is easy to judge others, isn't it?" the Hood said, "There is this rescue organization in my home world, that my younger brother works for, who put themselves on such high pedestal, just because they save people's lives. But they are just trying to elevate themselves to godhood. They want the planet to worship them as gods. They..."  
"Hold on, is that what this is all about?" Zorro interrupted him.  
"I beg your pardon?" the Hood didn't understand.  
"You nearly died in an accident, but your brother's organization did not save you." Zorro spoke, "They left you to die, and it changed how you view them. It changed you."  
"Like I said, my body became weaker..."  
"But your mind didn't come out all intact." Zorro interrupted him again, "You are suffering from brain damage. You think you can be a god, and want everyone to see you as such."  
"Is that wrong?" the Hood questioned.  
"But in becoming a god, you became a devil." Zorro continued, "You have your power, you have control over an army, but instead of using it to change the world, you use it for your own selfish needs."  
"Selfish?"  
"You want to be a god, because you don't want people to see how weak you really are." Zorro continued.  
"That'll be all." the Hood replied.  
"You can't stand the thought of being weak." Zorro didn't listen, "You are still traumatized from what happened to you."  
"Shut up!"  
I could feel my heart palpitate. Zorro dared to oppose a man who can destroy him with a single thought?  
"If Sergeant Garcia were here, he would laugh at you." Zorro continued.  
"Enough!" I could hear the Hood getting up, and taking a sword out of a sheath.  
Zorro ran toward the Hood, his blade drawn. Once they were close enough to each other, their swords clashed. The two backed away from each other, started to walk around in a circle, so I could finally see Kyrano, or the man who called himself the Hood. After a few seconds, the Hood stroke down his sword, and Zorro defended himself. Swords were clashing, sparks started flying, fog clouds shifted, swords cut cloths, possibly even their skins... it was a long battle. Eventually, Zorro's sword hit the Hood's, he twirled it around, until he could push the sword out of the Hood's hand, disarming him. The Hood was about to run for his sword, but Zorro stopped him, by carving three lines on the front of the Hood's dress. As I looked, those three lines had formed what looked like a "Z". Add to that the swishing sound that came with each cut, and I was instantly reminded of what Bernardo showed me. So this was what he meant. If he makes a "Z" in the air, along with that whistle, he was talking about Zorro.  
"Yield?" Zorro asked the Hood.  
"Would you?" he replied, as his eyes suddenly turned yellow.  
It looked scary enough on its own, but what didn't help was the fact that Zorro seemed to back up, hands on his head, as if he was suddenly attacked by a headache.  
"Did I not say that I can do more?" the Hood laughed.  
Realizing the trouble, I took my dagger out of my pocket, and jumped at the Hood. Unfortunately, I wasn't fast of quiet enough. He spotted me before I could surprise him, and stepped away, so I missed my attack.  
"Amateurs." the Hood said, "No matter."  
From somewhere underneath his dress, the Hood took out a device. At first glance it looked like a remote control for television, but as soon as he pressed a button, it opened a circle on his left.  
"As soon as I step through this portal, there won't be anybody controlling the Wraith anymore." he said, "They will just be savages, looking for something to feast upon. Goodbye."  
He stepped through the portal, which disappeared soon after.

With the Hood gone, I got up and ran to Zorro. I placed my hands on his shoulders, hoping I could wake him from whatever was weakening him.  
"I'm all right, thank you." he said, "What did he say? The Wraith are now out of control?"  
I nodded.  
"We better let your friends know."  
"I've already tried to tell them, but they've been preoccupied." Murphy let us know.  
"They must be in trouble." Zorro concluded, "Let's go help them."  
I nodded, and together we set out to search for them.


	10. Chapter 10

On our way to find Saya and Merlin, we came across one Wraith Drone. It shot at us, but Zorro pushed me down, so it missed. Zorro, however, charged at the Drone, attacked it with his sword, somehow managed to disarm the Drone, then stabbed his sword through its mask, killing it. But as soon as this one was down, more arrived. Zorro readied himself to face them, but I knew he wouldn't last very long. I rolled toward the dead Drone's gun, picked it up, and fired at the other Wraith. One shot didn't seem to do much damage, but it did look like whoever I hit felt the shot. So I kept firing until some of them went down. As one fell, Zorro reached for that Drone's gun, and started firing himself. With two of us firing, several more Wraith Drones were falling down, but they were still coming. At least, it looked that way, until I heard one explosion at the back, and one Wraith fell. This distracted all the others, giving Zorro and me a chance to shoot them all down. Only when there weren't any more Wraith in the way, could we see the man who shot the Wraith at the back.  
"Corporal Reyes?" Zorro asked.  
"Senior Zorro?" he replied, striking a higher pitch than the Reyes I saw before could, "How did you get in here?"  
"You are the real Reyes, aren't you?" Zorro needed some confirmation.  
"What do you mean?" he looked baffled at the question, "Who else would I be?"  
Zorro looked at me, smiling: "It's the real one."  
"Who is he?" Reyes asked.  
"Never mind him." Zorro said, "Did you see one little girl with a sword, accompanied by a young man?"  
"You mean Sarah and Martin?" I cringed when I heard him getting their names wrong, "Yes, they're back here with other soldiers."  
"Take us to them."  
"Yes, Senior Zorro." he replied, and started running.

We followed him, and found ourselves in another corridor. Here, it was obvious that the Wraith were more interested in what was in front of them, not behind them. So they were easily taken down by the three of us. And even if they eventually realized they were attacked from behind, by focusing on us, they lost sight of the others. It didn't take long before they were defeated by us, and until we were reunited with Saya and Merlin, and a number of people, most of whom looked like soldiers.  
"You freed the people." Zorro told them.  
"You took care of Kyrano?" Merlin asked.  
"He got away." Zorro replied.  
"Stop wasting time!" Saya told us, "Run!"  
She lead the way before any of us could ask what was going on.  
"Don't ask, just go." Merlin said, and we all followed her.

On our way, we ran into a number of Wraith. But with each one that we took down, Saya seemed to grow more impatient. She picked one nobleman among the people we just rescued.  
"How much more time?"  
The nobleman took a look at his fob watch: "Fifty minutes."  
"We need more time than that." Merlin said.  
"More time for what?"  
"To get out before this building explodes." one of the soldiers explained.  
"Then why are we still wasting time here?" the nobleman asked, "Let's run."  
"You don't understand." Saya growled at him, "Even if we continue running, we won't make it in time."  
"What made those Wraith all attack at once?" Merlin wondered.  
Zorro and I looked at each other. This was what the Hood meant earlier. The Wraith had gone out of control, so they started attacking everybody that didn't belong on the ship. If they didn't, we would have had more time to escape.  
"There may be another way out." Murphy told us, and shortly after that, we felt a tremor.  
"What was that?" the nobleman wondered.  
Another tremor came, and Saya knew where it came from: "It's coming from beyond this wall."  
"That must be a heavy canon, to cause a building to shake like that." Reyes said.  
We felt another tremor, somewhat stronger than before.  
"It has to be Murphy." Saya said, "He said the ship's lasers aren't strong enough to blow up a ship, but it has to be powerful enough to shoot holes through the hull.  
The next one felt too close for comfort.  
"Everyone, step back!" Saya called at us.  
"Do as she says!" Merlin shouted at everyone.  
I helped them getting everyone to take a few steps back. And sure enough, the wall exploded. Through the hole in the wall, we could see several more holes, all the way to a door to Murphy's ship. I stepped through the first hole, and motioned to everyone to follow.  
"Go on, follow him!" Merlin exclaimed to everyone.  
As I ran, I could hear others coming after me. They seemed very eager to get out, but once we were inside Murphy's ship, they seemed afraid of taking one more step.  
"He's friendly." Zorro told them, "Now make room for others!"  
As more and more people hurried into the ship, explosions started to happen in the corridors. I began to fear they wouldn't make it into the ship in time. Reyes was the last one to come aboard. As he ran, fires seemed to surround him. But despite his idiocy, he was a soldier, and therefor had the bravery to jump through the fires. Either that, or he was too stupid to know that fires hurt him. In any case, when he jumped into the ship, Murphy flew off. And from a distance, we could see the entire Wraith-ship blow to smithereens.


	11. Chapter 11

After a night's rest, Diego headed back into town, only to return to us, telling us how things were getting back to normal.  
"Looks like I missed something last night." Diego told us.  
"What do you mean? You were with us fighting Wraith." Merlin said.  
"Yes, but when we destroyed that ship, all those Auton copies fell apart before Garcia's very eyes." Diego explained, "I wish I was there to see that look of his, when he sees something he doesn't understand."  
Saya frowned: "Are you sure you two are friends?"  
Diego shrugged: "I admit that I rely on Garcia's stupidity to keep myself from being caught as Zorro. I must be enjoying that a little too much sometimes."  
Bernardo raised a brow at that. I'd guess he was thinking "only sometimes?"  
"So what will you do now?" Merlin asked, "Now that you know there are other worlds out there? And that there are others more powerful than your worst fear that wants to conquer you?"  
Diego sighed: "I must admit, it sounds terrifying. But if we let fear stop us, Spain would never have grown, and we would not be here."  
Saya and Merlin looked at each other. Saya squinted her eyes, while Merlin grinned.  
"And besides, if I explain the situation to my father, he'll know what to do." Diego further explained.  
"He'll believe you?" Saya was skeptic.  
"He's my father. Why wouldn't he?" Diego questioned.  
"But she is right about one thing." Merlin backed her up, "It's still a fantastic story. Had I not seen all the things I've seen ever since I left my own world, I would not believe it."  
Diego thought this through: "Maybe if you left me that Wraith canon. I can show its power to my father, and then he'll be inclined to at least believe some of what I'd be telling him."  
"We can't do that." Murphy told us.  
Diego placed his hand on his ear: "Oh, hello Murphy. I forgot you were still in there."  
"We cannot leave such a powerful weapon behind." Murphy explained, "What if it falls into the wrong hands?"  
"It's in the hands of a man who protects the people." Merlin explained.  
"But for how long?" Murphy questioned.  
"I'll only use it to convince my father." Diego explained, "And as soon as he's convinced, I'll destroy it."  
"Sounds reasonable to me." Merlin said.  
Saya shrugged. She didn't seem to care one way or the other.  
Diego took his ear-piece out of his ear: "And will you please take this back?"

Soon enough, we had said our goodbyes to Diego and Bernardo. When that was done, we boarded the ship, which took off. As Diego and Bernardo waved at us, we could see their heads disappearing below the edge of the windshield, leaving only their arms visible. As soon as even those disappeared, we knew for sure that we were leaving this world. The ship turned to the sky and blasted itself into space.  
"There's still one thing I'm wondering." Saya said.  
"What is it?" Merlin asked her.  
"We landed here because Murphy picked up a radio-signal." Saya answered, "What was that about?"  
"Maybe the Wraith-ship detected our presence, and they contacted Kyrano." Murphy speculated.  
"But I thought he was telepathically connected to them." Saya further questioned, "Wouldn't they have just sent him a message the same way?"  
"Maybe it doesn't work so well over great distances." Murphy speculated, "He can keep them under control, but not directly communicate with them."  
That sounded funny to me. The Hood, or Kyrano, he explained he was tasked to lead the Wraith, because he had a strong mind. This sounded like he was much weaker. Is that the case? Or is something else going on?  
"What worries me more is where Kyrano has gone to." Merlin wondered.  
"We can only guess where that may be." Murphy replied, as he opened a portal before us, "All we can do now is hope we'll find him before he does any more damage."  
With Murphy giving us something to look forward to, we flew into the portal, heading toward the next world.

**THE END**


End file.
